Yesterday…. Sunday 24th 2017…. Germany’s population voted for a new government.
82,8 Million people are living in Germany. 61,5 Million were allowed to vote. Around 75 % used their right to vote for a new government.
I’ve been living in Norway since 1994 and this year was the last time I could vote for a new government. When Germany votes for a new government in 4 years from now I’ll lived to long abroad. I won’t be allowed to vote anymore. So of course I voted for “the last time”. I thought with all the things happening in Germany, Europe and the rest of the world it was kind of even more important to use my right to vote.
Nationalism, populism, racism, war, terrorism, etc. How could I not use one of my possibilities to race my voice?
There are still countries where people can’t vote free. There are still countries where woman are not allowed to vote.
In Germany woman got the right to vote on January, 19th 1919. That’s less than 100 years ago…
So why are I’m writing about the German election this year? Because the result upsets me. It makes me sad, angry, scared. I have to admit I cried last night when the results slowly ticked in.
Why? Because of one number…

5 877 094 is the number. That’s the number of voters who voted for AfD (Alternative for Germany) in the German election…
Please chew a bit on this number before I explain…. 5.877.094 …
That’s more people than the population of the German capital Berlin (3.515.473). That’s almost as many as there are living in Bagdad, Iraq (5.672.513) and a little bit less than in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (6.023.742). These numbers are from 2014, but were one of the better lists I found… It’s just to have something to compare the number with.

For me living in Norway this number compared means:The number of inhabitants in (whole) Norway as of January, 1st 2017 was 5.258.317.In the parliamentary elections earlier this month there were 3.756.300 voters throughout Norway. Think about it …. Chew a bit on these numbers…5.877.094 more than all of Norway’s population. There are quite a few more people than were voting at their last election ….

There are a total of 5.877.094 people in Germany who voted for a party in the government elections where key people say that they:a) Will hunt for government regardless of who the government becomes.b) who will take back the people and the country (Germany for Germans)c) will close the external borders and defend them with weapons against refugees: men, women and childrend) want to pursue a policy as different as possible as today’s democracye) Muslims and other non-Christians do not belong in Germanyf) that the German military did an excellent job during World War I and World War II and that this should be honoredg) will abolish Germany in its current formh) Changes do not occur through speech, but iron and bloodi) Democracy means that there is one Nation ruling, not severalj) The term Nazi should be a positive expression againk) People with different cultural backgrounds are liked as soccer players but not welcome as neighboursl) believes that Breivik (Norwegian terrorist) became a mass murderer of pure despair over culture-inducedm) that the family consists of man, woman and child and that gender differences should not be thematized through gender ideologyn) counteract the reduction of the original populationo) Children of immigrants can not ever become German citizens due to ancestry principlesp) Europe must consist only of souvenir states (abolish the EU)q) that when you do not have financial resources, unemployed people have to get the opportunity to sell their organs to earn moneyr) German leadership culture instead of a multicultural society based on values ​​from Christianity and antiquity.(….)Do I need to continue or understand why I’m “little” more than “somewhat worried” about this party having entered the government? This is not a small storm in a water bottle that is soon over ….
The rise of nationalist societies is high in Europe, including the Nordic region. There are processes that are similar to processes in the 1930s. This party has received 94 (!!!) seats in House of Representatives. For comparison, the environmental party has 67 seats…. The SPD now out of government cooperation has 153 … Not so very much more than AfD …That Nazi are NOT an option the world has seen before …

So maybe you now realize that I’m walking around and am sorry, frustrated, scared …
And I thank all those people who went out on the streets in Germany to demonstrate against AfD ❤ ❤ ❤ Watch here! (German language)

Thank you 2015 for the lessons you teached me. You turned out to be different then I espected… You were hard, painful, hurtful, educational, but you also taughtmeto see whomyrealfriendsaremine, whom Ican trust,andwho is therewhen I need it. That was a good thing.

I got to know new, beautiful people, special in their own ways very single one, and I got closer to old long absent friends.
I had to say good-bye to my grandfather who was the most important person and the light in my life, and my father who was the big shadow of my life passed away.
When light and shadows disappear – what’s left….?

The emotional and physical stress this year has nourished my sarcoidosis and I got to know just now I’ll might to have to start on a heavy treatment in February. That wasn’t the message I hoped for. That’s not the best way to end 2015. But 2015 kind of ends liked it started, wish being sick and uncertain. But this way the circle is closed. I hopefully be able to start up something new… .

Somehow I feel rootless and unsure where to go from here… I know I go ahead, but I don’t know where I’ll end up.
First stop 2016 is India… Let’s wait and see where I go from there.

I thank you all for following this year. I wish you a good start to the new year.
May it be full of joy, good health, friends, love and peace.

Today I went to the opening of the Plan Norway exhibition “Because I am a girl” at Det norske teateret. So it’s a natural thing to choose these words for todays words of wisdom and to add some more words to this. I wished I could write “Because I am a girl I’ve got equal rights regardless where I life”. We aren’t there at all, we ain’t close…
The sentence “Because I am a girl” is a girls reply on the question “Why ain’t you at school?”

Every day, more than 300 000 girls are abused at school. By adopting My Law you say no to violence against girls in school and commit yourself to defend girls’ rights. You also support a call for all countries to enforce laws prohibiting violence in schools. Adopt My Law”

Choosing these words as todays words of wisdom after watching a program about the things happening in Germany… Many people helping and showing solidarity with the refugees. The things that’s worrying me are those who spreadingracistpropagandacreatingliesandfear… Those have been to successful in the past, and they seem not to learn from history…

Lithography 🙂 In my opinion it’s a great technic, and this weekend I’m taking a course to learn how to do it.
I always have been interested in lithography and the most of the artwork I have bought in my life is lithography. Finally I got the chance to try it out myself at the Norske Grafikkers Verksted (Norwegianprintmakers Workshop) here in Oslo.
Teacher is the artist Kari Hauge.
We started yesterday night with the preparations for the weekend.
First mission: Find the limestone you want to work on… The stones got different colours and the colours indicate the structure of the stone and it’s hardness.
Second mission: Clean the stone and abrasive it. There are three ways to do this.
1. you use an other stone of the same size
2. you use a handdriven levigator
3. you use an electric levigator

Handdriven levigator Photo by Anny Langer 2015

We tried the stone and the handdriven levigator. (Do art and build some muscles…) It’s a bit heavy and you need to find the right motion and rhythm, but it’s actually fun.
You start with pulling water on the stone and then you add grinding powder. You lift the stone or the levigator onto your stone and start to abrasive. The powder have to be evenly spread over the stone. You have to do this for quite a while to remove the former pictures. When you finished to abrasive you measure if the stone is plan.
You also have to abrasive the edges.
After you finished to abrasive the stone, it has to dry. Good for a coffee break. 😉 When the stone is dry you mask the edges with around 2 cm with rubber water and let the rubber dry.

Limestone with masked edges Photo by Anny Langer

To draw onto the stone you use like litho chalk and litho ink. Lithography drawing materials relate to toner, particularly in that they are oil-based and not water-based. Lithography can have a variety of visual characteristics due to selection of materials that can be used to extract the stone. I choose to use litho chalk pencils. They come in different hardness (nr. 1 is the most soft one, nr. 5 is almost like using a usual pencil).
I did a sketch to with charcoal on a piece of paper and transformed it by putting the drawing onto the stone and stroke a couple of times over it.

Drawing in progress on the limestonePhoto by Anny Langer

The stone is very sensitive for oil so when you start to draw it’s a smart think to have a piece of paper under your hand so you don’t get your hand print onto the stone. You draw onto the stone using different drawing materials almost like with every other drawing.

Drawing in progressPhoto and Copyright by Anny Langer

Well… That’s what we managed to do on Friday… But it’s only the start of a long process.
Gonna write more another day. Dinner time here now.
Have a great evening everyone!

Found this on www.urduplanet.com
Todays words of wisdom. Going to bed soon. Didn’t sleep that much last night.

I woke up and heard someone shout outside. When I looked out of the kitchen window I saw a man laying in the street shouting for help. I got on the phone and called an ambulance. What shocked me wasn’t the fact that somebody was laying in the street next to the bus stop. Such things happen. But even if it was in the middle of the night there were some few people on the streets. A car drove by, it actually did slow down, the man lifted his arm and the car drove away. Then a bus stopped and people got off. They walked away and the bus drove.
Luckily the ambulance came shortly after I called and they took him with them. Just hope he’s fine. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Couldn’t fall asleep at first after that. Have to admit I’m shocked nobody stopped. Is it really this way we want society to be? How would it feel if you were laying in the street and everyone just walked away? Are we to busy at 1 am to stop and check somebody is alright?

Rainy day in Oslo today. Having coffee and watch the schoolkids on the other side of the street playing outside and having fun. Guess they can feel the rain… Running, dancing and laughing 🙂
Give me a bit to think about, like that rain is a blessing and in some parts of the world they’re waiting and hoping for a good rain season….

Today when I came to work one of my colleagues stopped me and gave me and orchid with a card. What a surprise ❤ ❤ ❤ The card said “Dear Anny ❤ Thank you so much for the yoga lessons 🙂 You are a very good yoga teacher. Love you! Hugs”Do I have to explain why I love to go to work and that I had a real great day?